1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combination ventilated hood and microwave oven, and more particularly, to a combination ventilated hood and microwave oven having a plurality of trays by which a large quantity of food is cooked at the same time.
2. Description of the Background Art
A general combination microwave oven and ventilated hood has a function of suctioning steam and smoke generated during the operation of a gas oven range positioned at a lower portion of the microwave oven.
The interior of a combination ventilated hood and microwave oven in the conventional art, as illustrated in FIG. 1, includes a cavity 102, which is a cooking space for cooking foodstuffs by microwaves oscillated from a magnetron 106. Usually, since the cavity 102 of the combination ventilated hood and microwave oven is installed across the width of an upper portion of the gas oven range, the horizontal length L of the cavity 102 is large as compared to the general stand alone microwave oven. Also, an exhaust motor 104 is installed in the cavity 102 to exhaust steam and smoke.
At the bottom surface of the cavity 102, a circular rotary tray 108 for putting foodstuffs to be cooked on the top surface thereof, is installed. In addition, a rotary tray mounting unit 107 is connected to a lower portion of the rotary tray 108 so that the rotary tray 108 is mounted for rotation.
The rotary tray mounting unit 107 is positioned at the bottom surface of the cavity 102 and includes a driving source 103 with a power transmission device for rotating the rotary tray 108.
However, in the conventional combination ventilated hood and microwave oven, the rotary tray 108 is installed at the center portion of the bottom surface of the cavity 102, and the rotary tray mounting unit 107 for rotating the rotary tray 108 is also installed at a lower side of the center portion of the bottom surface of the cavity 102.
Namely, in the conventional ventilated hood and microwave oven, although the horizontal length L of the cavity 102 is large as compared to the general microwave oven, the rotary tray 108 is mounted at the central portion of the cavity 102 in the same manner as the general microwave oven.
Therefore, in the conventional microwave oven and ventilated hood, the right and left side portions of the rotary tray in the cavity are not used as a cooking space. Also, although the size of the inner space of the cavity is large as compared to the general microwave oven, the actual space for putting foodstuffs thereon for cooking purposes has the same size as the general microwave oven, resulting in an inefficient use of the cooking space.
Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIG. 2, another microwave structure according to the conventional art is disclosed. The structure includes a first tray 210 and a second tray 220 each having a smaller size than the above-described rotary tray. The first tray 210 is installed at one side of the rotary tray (not shown) and the second tray 220 is installed on the other side of the rotary tray. Both the first tray 210 and the second tray 220 are to be driven by a motor 330 for driving the rotary tray.
Also, the structure includes a main gear 201 connected to the motor 330 for driving the rotary tray; a first slave gear 211 for driving the first tray 210 engaged with the main gear 201; a second slave gear 221 for driving the second tray 220 is engaged with the main gear 201 and opposite the first slave gear 211; and the axis of the motor 310 extends from the motor through the main gear 201. Further, although not shown, the structure has a third tray.
However, although the above-described structure can have three trays, the rotary tray alone is driven during actual operation of the microwave oven. As illustrated in FIG. 2, only the first tray 201 and the second tray 202 must be driven in a state where the rotary state is escaped to the outside of the main frame. Consequently, there occurs a problem that the manufacturing cost is increased, and the space of a cooking chamber is not efficiently used.
Meanwhile, FIG. 3 illustrates still another structure according to the conventional art. The structure includes a stirrer fan 312 driven by the motor 307 is installed at one side of the rotary tray 305, and a base plate 319 on which a container 318 for containing a temperature probe 320 can be put on is installed at an upper side of the stirrer fan 312. Thereby, it is possible to simultaneously carry out cooking using the rotary tray 305 and cooking using the temperature probe 320.
The driving structure of the stirrer fan 312 driven by the motor 307 will now be described. The rotating shaft 306 of the rotary tray 305 is connected to the rotating shaft 308 of the motor 307. A pulley 314 fixed to the rotating shaft 313 of the stirrer fan 312 and a pulley 315 fixed to the rotating shaft 308 of the motor 307 are connected with a belt 316, thereby making it possible for the stirrer fan 312 to be driven by the motor 307.
In addition, a wave guide 317 for transmitting microwaves generated from the magnetron 309 to the stirrer fan 312 is installed at one side wall of the cavity 302, while a shelf-shaped base plate 319 for putting the temperature probe 320 on the top surface thereof is positioned at an upper side portion of the stirrer fan 312 at one side of the rotary tray 305. Reference numeral 321 designates a bracket for fixing the motor.
However, in addition to the wave guide 310 installed at an upper portion of the cavity 302, the wave guide 317 has to be installed in order to transmit microwaves to the stirrer fan 312 positioned at a lower portion of the cavity 302. Thus, the wave guide must be longer and accordingly increases the manufacturing cost.
In addition, the bottom surface of the base plate 319 is positioned higher, than the bottom surface of the rotary tray 305. Thus, making it inconvenient to clean the microwave oven and aggravating the aesthetic appearance of the microwave oven.
In addition, since the pulleys and belt are required for driving the stirrer fan, the manufacturing cost is increased. In particular, the diameter ratio of the pulley fixed to the rotating shaft of the motor for properly rotating the stirrer fan for cooking purposes to the pulley fixed to the rotating shaft of the stirrer fan must be increased, thus making the manufacturing process complicated and increasing the manufacturing cost.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a combination ventilated hood microwave oven having a plurality of trays and able to cook a large quantity of food at one time by making the most of a cooking space of the combination ventilated hood and microwave oven.
It is another object or me present invention to provide a combination ventilated hood and microwave oven having a plurality of trays by which microwaves supplied into a cavity can be uniformly penetrated through foodstuffs to be cooked.
To achieve the above objects, there is provided a combination microwave oven and ventilated hood having a plurality of trays which includes: a stirrer fan installed at an upper portion of the cavity at which the plurality of trays are installed; a coding fan installed at an upper portion of a machine chamber formed at one side of the cavity; and a guide unit for guiding parts of an airflow generated from the cooling fan towards the stirrer fan. Additional advantages, objects and features of the invention will become more apparent, from the description which follow.